October 23, 2022:
The Indestructible Beat of Soweto.
It's 1986 or 1987. I'm in a borrowed bedroom at my mother's house on Ildica in Spring Valley. I have a mattress on the floor, my books are in milk crates, I've recently bought my first CD player, the little bookshelf speakers from Speakercraft in Riverside are balanced on top. Mbaqanga and Beach Boys, over and over. I'm reading Althusser, writing songs. I'd never been before and never would be again as happy as that.